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Review
'A complex, wry domestic drama; a writer of the highest order'
(Sunday Telegraph )'The writing is witty and subtly nuanced and the book is as much about the new Ireland - modern, forward-looking, practical and tolerant - as about the individual characters'
(Daily Mail )'Johnston is one of the most revered Irish writers, and this, her fifteenth novel, makes us understand why. Her style is simple and colloquial...there are no literary pretensions: story and characters take priority...Foolish Mortals is essentially an uplifting read'
(Time Out - Book of the Week )Time Literary Supplement
Despite an impressive body of work, which extends to plays for the stage and radio, she remains relatively little known and is often described as the most underrated of Irish authors. She has the power if a quiet talent...her authorial voice is restrained and it is her dialogue which dominates the narrative...Foolish Morals gives us a few glimpses of New Ireland, and Johnston's view of it is bleak, but not without hope'
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book looked like chic lit but a friend recommended it to explore the narrative style. Initially it is first person from the viewpoint of Henry, the pivotal character. The narrator then alternates in and out of third person, mainly from the viewpoint of Stephanie, the ex-wife. There is a wealth of dialogue in the book which keeps the story moving. Now to the crunch. The main character Henry doesn't ring true. He has recently come out as gay after two marriages, which isn't totally impossible, just unlikely, but as a male reader Henry doesn't read to me like a man who would ever have been straight. The brother George uses improbable dialogue and is as camp as Butlins, although he's supposed to be straight. So the main characters are straight female and gay male, perhaps the author doesn't write straight male characters well?
It may just be my prejudice against arty luvvie types but I found much of the language in the book to be indigestible. The changing narrative viewpoint moves us away from the earlier intimacy with Henry and he is left flapping as a fey old cliché, with Stephanie resigned to marrying his queen of a brother, George. Their mother Tash is the best character and her death wraps up what otherwise is bland and improbable.
It may just be my prejudice against arty luvvie types but I found much of the language in the book to be indigestible. The changing narrative viewpoint moves us away from the earlier intimacy with Henry and he is left flapping as a fey old cliché, with Stephanie resigned to marrying his queen of a brother, George. Their mother Tash is the best character and her death wraps up what otherwise is bland and improbable.
0 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
An easy read, both in style and vocabulary. There was just enough interest in the story for me to read the whole thing and not give up on it. However, unlike many other other books I have read, I found that I did not care about what was happening to the characters in the novel. Because Henry has amnesia, we only find out about part of his life.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
1 review
Incisive and pleasurable
10 Mar 2009
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
What a find! I had never heard of this author till I read an essay by an Australian about the pleasures of cruising bookshops in the UK, and her mention of "Foolish Mortals" enticed me to order a copy from Amazon. Indeed a very pleasurable and intelligent read; not a word wasted, and characters that feel real. Highly recommended -- and as this is her 15th novel, I have plenty more research to do to track them all down!
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